Starbucks China Looks to Increase its RTD Market Share with the Launch of New Bottled Coffee Beverage

Starbucks Coffee Company, global leader in coffee chain stores, is further expanding its ready-to-drink coffee beverage business in China by introducing a new bottled lines tailored for Chinese taste and plans to bring its distributions to more cities in the country…Full Article: China Daily Sept 2016

Key Point

Starbucks announced it would launch new bottled Frappuccino (Arabica) coffee beverages in coffee, mocha, caramel and vanilla flavors. The company plans to sell the ready-to-drink coffee beverage in Chinese supermarkets, convenience stores and online (e-commerce).

ChinaAg Comments

In September 2016, Starbucks announced it would market two iced shaken tea beverages from its Teavana brand in China.

In July 2016, Starbucks announced that Princi food products, a boutique bakery, will be used to stock Starbucks’ new international roaster and reserve tasting room in Shanghai (opening in 2017).

In June 2016, Starbucks announced it would raise the price of its coffee drinks by 8% to 10% in China. The last time Starbucks raised the price of its coffee drinks in China was in 2012.

In May 2016, Starbucks announced it would open its first international roaster and reserve tasting room in Shanghai in 2017.

As of early 2016, Starbucks had more than 2,100 stores located across 100 cities, making China its largest overseas market.

In January 2016, Starbucks announced plans to open 1,400 new stores by 2019.

In 2015, Starbucks had a 73.3% of China’s high-end coffee chain market, followed by McDonald’s McCafe at 9.3%, Whitebread’s Costa Coffee (British), and China Resources Enterprise’s Pacific Coffee at 3.9%.

In December 2015, Starbucks began marketing their goods on Alibaba’s Tmall e-commerce site.

As of 2015, Starbucks had 1,700 coffee shops in China.

In September 2015, Starbucks opened two stores in Xining City, Qinghai Province, northwest China.

In March 2015, Tianjin’s Tingyi Group signed a deal with Seattle’s Starbucks to produce and distribute the coffee company’s ready-to-drink products in mainland China.

From 2014 to 2015, Nestlé’s (Switzerland) share of China’s RTD coffee market grew from from 56.4% to 58.1%, while Suntory Holdings’ (Japan) share declined from 14.2% to 12.6% and Uni-President Enterprises’ (Taiwan) share decreased from 6% to 5.2%. Latte was the most popular within China’s RTD coffee market.

In November 2012, Starbucks raised the retail price on five espresso-based drinks (e.g. latte, macchiato, mocha, and cappuccino) by CNY 2 (US$0.32) in 12 cities across China including Tianjin, Chongqing and Dalian.

In January 2012, Starbucks raised the retail price for regular coffee by CNY 1 to 2 (US$0.16 to US$0.32). Starbucks also increased the price of espresso and hot chocolate by CNY 1 to 3.